Jackson Free Press

Artis Bolden opened Bolden's Auto Repair on Mill Street over 40 years ago, but in all that time, he says he can't remember a week like this one.

The hailstorm that blew through the greater Jackson area last Monday left vehicles dented, damaged and, in some cases, totaled.

"We've got 30 to 40 cars on the lot right now," Bolden said Monday. "Most are waiting on insurance adjusters to come make estimates on them. There's no quick fix, either. Almost all of these cars are going to take three to four weeks to fix, some even longer."

The storm caused a lot of damage, but the worst may be yet to come as customers receive their estimates from insurance companies and then flood local body shops for the repairs.

Hertz car-rental service at the Jackson-Evers International Airport has put in an order for dozens of extra cars to keep up with demand as repairs begin this week.

"We're trying to get as many extra vehicles down here as we can," Hertz representative Rashunda Beamon said. "We don't know how long they will take to get here, but we are working with a very short fleet right now."

The turnaround on most minor damage can be relatively short, but more serious repairs could take up to a month or more to fix.

At Smith Bros. Body Shop on South Farish Street, the average turnaround on small dents, which can be repaired using a method called painless dent repair, can be as short as 24 to 36 hours. Others, as Bolden pointed out, can take a month.

"There's no point in putting a new windshield on a car that has to have a new roof," Bolden said. "Because if we have to put a new roof on, the glass will have to come back off and then be put back on. What if the glass breaks between now and then? What if it breaks when its sealed to the new roof? So some of these repairs are going to take some time."

Dozens of customers patronized Smith Bros. Monday morning, most with estimates from their insurance companies in hand. Co-owner Chuck Smith said his company is trying to come up with creative ways to get as many drivers back on the road as quickly as possible, while still delivering the quality service his customers expect.

"We're trying to coordinate and get parts in here for these cars as fast as we can," Smith said. "We've had hundreds of people bring their cars in, and probably double that number of phone calls. We want to fix as many windshields and back windows replaced as we can so people can get back on the road, but we don't want to do poor body work just because we are swamped.

"What we're having to do is coordinate with people and let them know when we'll have their parts in so that they can bring their car back to us and we can get it repaired in a timely manner. We don't want to sacrifice the quality of our service for a quick turn-around time. We may not be able to fix everyone's car this week, but the ones we do fix will be done right."

The storm, which blew through Jackson and its suburbs last Monday afternoon, brought hail the size of baseballs in some areas.

State Sen. Dean Kirby of Pearl, who worked in insurance for years before running for office, told the Associated Press last week that the amount of insurance claims will be large.

"It would not surprise me at all if the damages reach $20 million statewide in hail damage," Kirby told the AP. "And that's not even considering car dealerships."